Open Plan 8.8 Help

Contents of the Advanced Tab

Use the fields and options to configure the Options dialog box Advanced tab.

Category

This column displays the options that are enabled. You can add a category by selecting it from the predefined categories in the list box.

Value

This column controls the value you assign to the category.

You can select from the categories in the following table.

User Preferences

Category

Description

_BULK_LOAD_TASKS_TO_MSP_2013

For Microsoft Project 2013 and later, all tasks are read in at one time instead of individually.

  • 0 = Load tasks individually.
  • 1 = You can load all tasks at one time.

By default, it is set to 1.

_CREATEOP33COMPATIBLEBACKUP

This option enables you to create a backup file that is compatible with Open Plan 3.3.

  • 0 = The generated backup file is not compatible with Open Plan 3.3.
  • 1 = The generated backup file is compatible with Open Plan 3.3.

By default, it is set to 0.

_DEFAULTACTIVITYDURATION

This option enables you to set the value initially assigned to the original duration for a new activity. It accepts any valid duration. The default is 0d.

_DEFAULTFINISHTIME

This enables the user to specify a default time to be added to finish dates that are entered without a specified time. The format of the time is HH:MM.

You can enter from 00:00 through 24:00. The default is 16:00.

_DEFAULTOPENMODE

This option controls the default mode for File > Open.

This option also sets the default access mode for new projects. There are three modes:

  • E = Exclusive
  • S = Shared
  • R = Read Only

The default setting is E.

_DEFAULTPROJECTNAME

This option specifies the project to be used as the default, provided that the _USEDEFAULTPROJECT option is set to 1.

You can see it in the File Name field on the Projects tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

_DEFAULTSTARTTIME

This option enables you to specify a default time to be added to start dates that are entered without a specified time. The format of the time is HH:MM. You can enter from 00:00 through 24:00. The default setting is 08:00.

_ENABLE_MENTOR

With this option, you can enable all options on the Mentor tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

  • 0 = You need to manually select or enable the options on the Mentor tab.
  • 1 = Enable all options on the Mentor tab.

_ENABLE_TA

With this option, you can enable the Time Analysis options on the Mentor tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

  • 0 = You need to manually select or enable the options on the Mentor tab.
  • 1 = Enable the Time Analysis options on the Mentor tab and warn you when time analysis is performed and the percentage of incomplete critical activities (set in the _TA_PERCENT preference), provided that the value of _ENABLE_MENTOR is 1.

_EXPORT_ONLY_CALS_IN_USE

When this option is set to 1, Open Plan checks that a calendar is being used before exporting it to Microsoft Project. By default, it is set to 0.

_EXPORT_ONLY_P6_CALS_IN_USE

Web Export

When this option is blank or set to 0, Open Plan exports all the calendars in the calendar file assigned to the project whether or not they are being used by an activity.

This is the default for a web export.

When this option is set to 1, Open Plan exports only those calendars that are being referenced by the data being exported.

Open Plan follows these rules:

  • If a child calendar is exported, the parents in the hierarchy are also included in the export.
  • Calendars are included for all activities being exported.
  • The project's default calendar is always exported if it is not blank.
  • The project's default relationship calendar is always exported if it is not blank.
  • Calendars are included for all selected baselines on the open project.
  • A relationship calendar where both ends of the relationship are associated with activities being exported will be exported as long as it is not blank and is not <Calendar of Successor>.
  • If resources are being exported, any calendars associated with availability records for those resources are also exported.

XER Export

This option is ignored for XER exports.

Open Plan exports only those calendars that are being referenced by the data being exported.

Open Plan follows these rules:

  • If a child calendar is exported, the parents in the hierarchy are also included in the export.
  • Calendars are included for all activities being exported.
  • The project's default calendar is always exported if it is not blank.
  • Calendars are included for all selected baselines on the open project.
  • If resources are being exported, any calendars associated with availability records for those resources are also exported.

_EXPORT_ONLY_P6_RES_IN_USE

When this option is blank or set to 0, Open Plan exports all the resources in the resource file assigned to the project whether or not they are being used by an activity.

This is the default.

When this option is set to 1, Open Plan exports only those resources that are being referenced by the data being exported.

Open Plan follows these rules:

  • If a child resource is exported, the parents in the hierarchy are also included in the export.
  • Resources that are assigned to activities being exported are exported.
  • If a resource assignment, resource usage record, or baseline usage record is associated with an activity that is being exported, Open Plan exports all resources referenced in the following fields: RES_ID, RES_SKL_ID, and ALT_RES_ID.
  • If a cost record is associated with an included activity, Open Plan exports resources referenced in the RES_ID and RES_SKL_ID fields.

_EXPORT_ONLY_RES_IN_USE

When this option is set to 1, Open Plan checks that a resource is being used before exporting it to Microsoft Project. By default, it is set to 0.

_FIRSTDAYOFWEEK

This option automatically sets the starting day of each workweek.

Normally, you set it in the Weeks Starts On field on the General tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

  • 0 = Sunday
  • 1 = Monday
  • 2 = Tuesday
  • 3 = Wednesday
  • 4 = Thursday
  • 5 = Friday
  • 6 = Saturday

The default value depends on your Windows regional settings.

_HIDE_MSP

This option controls whether the Microsoft Project application should be displayed during the import or export process.

  • 0 = The application is displayed during import or export.
  • 1 = The application is hidden during import or export.

The default setting is 1.

_KEEP_MSP_OUTPUT_FILES

Use this setting to review the data that was exported to Microsoft Project.

When this option has a value of 1, Open Plan creates CSV integration files and saves them to the Open Plan working folder (for example, Documents > Deltek > Open Plan Professional 8.x). Each file has a unique name that includes the Microsoft Project project name and a time stamp.

If the setting is enabled, the generated CSV files will remain in the folder until you delete them (disabling the setting will not delete accumulated files). You may want to periodically delete them to keep the folder size from becoming too large.

The default setting is 0.

_KEEP_P6_OUTPUT_FILES

Use this setting to review the data that was exported to Oracle Primavera P6.

When this option has a value of 1, Open Plan creates CSV integration files and saves them to the Open Plan working folder(for example, Documents > Deltek > Open Plan Professional 8.x). Each file has a unique name that includes the Primavera P6 project name and a time stamp.

_LOGVIEWTHRESHOLD

This option controls when the user is prompted to view messages produced by operations such as time analysis and resource scheduling.

There are two settings:

  • 0 = Always prompt to view messages regardless of severity.
  • 1 = Only prompt to view messages when error messages have been generated.

_MAX_MSP_REC_COUNT_PER_FILE

This is the maximum number of records output to each CSV file during export to Microsoft Project. You can enter a value from 100 through 10000000. The default setting is 400.

_MAX_P6_BATCH_UPDATE_RECS

This is the maximum number of records that Open Plan sends to the server in a single Primavera P6 export update operation. You can enter a value from 1 through 5000. The default setting is 250.

_NOTIFICATIONPOLLINGINTERVAL

This option controls how often (in fractional seconds) Open Plan checks to see if the session has been terminated or if there are any new messages. The default setting is 5 seconds.

This preference indicates the number of fractional seconds (for example, 5.5 indicates five and a half seconds) that Open Plan waits before polling again for system messages.

_OPENLASTFILE

This option controls whether the last file (project, calendar, code, or resource) used is opened on startup.

There are two settings:

  • 0 = Do not open the last file used on startup.
  • 1 = Open the last file used on startup.

_OPPCOORDINATES

Normally, Open Plan maintains this preference. It saves the position and size of the application during a session so that it can restore the window in a subsequent session using the stored coordinates and window size.

_SHARED_LOCK_DEFAULT_DURATION

This preference controls how often (in minutes) Open Plan checks to see how long a shared-mode lock has been in effect before it reminds you that you have exceeded the recommended maximum lock duration. You are prompted but not forced to release the lock. You can enter a value from 1 through 480. The default setting is 30 minutes.

_SKIP_BSA_DB_SEARCH_FOR_ACT_DELETION

This preference controls whether to send you a warning message when deleting an activity if related baseline acts exist.

  • 0 = Send you a warning message.
  • 1 = Do not send you a warning message.

_SPLASHSCREENENABLE

Normally, you can set this preference using the Opening Splash Screen option in the Show section on the General tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

This preference controls the display of the Open Plan splash screen at startup.

  • 0 = Hide the splash screen.
  • 1 = Display the splash screen.

The process of applying this option differs from the way the predefined options are applied. For more information, see Set the Splash Screen.

_STATUSBAR

This option controls the display of the Open Plan status bar.

  • 0 = Hide the Open Plan status bar.
  • 1 = Display the Open Plan status bar.

_SUPPRESSEMPTYCLIPNOTE

A clip note is a help item that comes up when you create a project, pool, calendar, code, or view within Open Plan.

This option enables the display of these help items to be suppressed.

  • 0 = Open Plan displays the clip notes. The Startup Clip Notes option on the General tab of the Application Preferences dialog box is selected.
  • 1 = Open Plan does not display the clip notes.

_SUPPRESSLOOPDETECTION

This option enables you to turn off full automatic loop detection in Open Plan (by setting a value of 0) or to restrict it (by setting a value less than the total number of activities) for large networks or networks with large numbers of complex relationships. Full loop detection will still be performed during Time Analysis.

The default setting is 1000. The number is a threshold value that determines at what point loop detection will be turned off. Thus, for the default value of 1000, loop detection is enabled as long as the total number of activities does not exceed 1000.

_TA_PERCENT

Normally, you can set this preference on the Mentor tab of the Application Preferences dialog box. You must set both the _ENABLE_MENTOR and _ENABLE_TA preferences to 1 for this preference to be applied (see _ENABLE_TA for more details).

You can set a value from 0 through 100. The default setting is 25.

_TIMEPHASEINTERVAL

In the absence of a reporting calendar, this preference determines the time buckets in the time-phased grid on the Resource tab of the Activity Details dialog box.

You can enter WEEK, MONTH, DAY, QUARTER, or YEAR. The default setting is WEEK.

_USE_MSP_DEADLINES

Normally, you set this preference using the Microsoft Project Export Wizard rather than on the Application Preferences dialog box.

  • 0 = Do not use the Microsoft Project deadline.

  • 1 = Set the Microsoft Project TASK field deadline during an export in the following situations:

    • The MSPRIF option is enabled, an activity in Open Plan has a Finish No Later Than target finish type, and the activity is of one of the following types: ASAP, start or finish milestone, discontinuous, effort driven, or foreign activity.
    • The MSPRIF option is enabled and an activity in Open Plan has a type of ALAP. In this case, the Microsoft Project deadline field is set to the Open Plan early finish date.

_USE_WINDOWS_COLORS

Normally, you set this preference using the Use Windows Color Scheme option on the Color tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

  • 0 = Use the Open Plan default rather than the Windows colors.
  • 1 = The views and the Open Plan Explorer use Windows colors assigned to the current theme (in some situations, such as spreadsheet background color) rather than the Open Plan default.

_USEDEFAULTPROJECT

Normally, you set this preference using the Create New Projects Using Default Project option on the Project tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

It specifies whether the template project specified in DefaultProjectName should be used when creating new projects.

  • 0 = Do not use the template project to create projects.
  • 1 = Use the template project when creating projects.

_USEMEMORYBASEDUNDOSTORAGE

Specify whether you want Open Plan to use memory-based or disk-based storage.

  • 0 = Open Plan uses disk-based temporary storage.
  • 1 = Open Plan uses memory-based storage. This may improve performance over disk-based storage; however, you may be limited in the number of actions you can undo.

_USERCANNOTCHANGEBASELINEDSTEPS

This option specifies whether the user can change baselined steps.

  • 0 = You can change baselined steps.

  • 1 = When this option is set to 1, and the selected activity is included in the currently selected baseline:

    Activity Details dialog box Steps tab grid: You cannot add or delete steps and you cannot edit step weight; however, you can edit step descriptions and notes, and steps can be progressed.

Activity Progress dialog box Steps tab grid: You cannot edit step weight.

_USERCANNOTCHANGEINPROGRESSEVT

This option specifies whether the user can change in-progress EVT.

  • 0 = You can change in-progress EVT.
  • 1 = When this option is set to 1, and the selected activity is in-progress or completed, the EVT field on the Activity Details dialog box Advanced tab is disabled.

_VIEWDIALOGSYNC

Normally, you set this preference using the View and Dialog Box Navigation option on the Project tab of the Application Preferences dialog box.

It determines the synchronization that occurs in a view related to the dialog box when you navigate to a different record on the dialog box.

  • 0 = There is no sync.
  • 1 = Sync the current view.
  • 2 = Sync all views.

AllowActiveXInBrowserView

When you view a web page locally from within Open Plan, this option enables the local page to access OLE objects and ActiveX controls without issuing a warning.

  • 0 = A warning is issued if the local page contains OLE objects and/or ActiveX controls. You are also prompted as to whether or not you want to enable the interaction for this web page.
  • 1 = OLE objects and ActiveX controls are enabled without issuing a warning.

If you link to a page outside the local zone, this setting no longer applies, and your browser’s default security takes over.

AllowScriptInBrowserView

When you view a web page locally from within Open Plan, this option enables the local page to run scripts without issuing a warning.

  • 0 = A warning is issued if the page contains scripts. It is possible that your browser is already configured to run scripts without first issuing a warning. If this is the case, setting this option to 0 does not override the browser setting.
  • 1 = No warning is issued if the page contains scripts.
  • 1 = OLE objects and ActiveX controls are enabled without issuing a warning.

AllowZeroBaselineUsage

This option helps with Cobra integration by enabling Open Plan to save zero (0) resource usage to the Baseline Usage (BSU) table.

  • 0 = Open Plan does not save zero resource usage.
  • 1 = Open Plan saves zero resource usage.

BarchartToolTipsField

This option enables you to define text to be displayed as a Tool Tip for the barchart. It requires that you enter a single field as the Value. However, in addition to enabling you to enter a standard field, Open Plan also enables you to specify a calculated field that contains exactly the information that you want displayed.

The default value is Description.

For more information about calculated fields, see Calculated Fields.

BarPrintMode

This preference is used to correct problems on certain devices when drawing barchart views that contain bars that use hatch patterns.

  • 0 = Use normal bar drawing method.
  • 1 = Use alternate bar drawing method.

CalCompFix

This preference prevents Open Plan from printing necked bars which are known to cause problems with certain Calcomp plotter drivers due to a problem with the driver support of the GDI Polygon function.

This eventually results in a general protection fault in Open Plan.

  • 0 = Print necked bars.
  • 1 = Do not print necked bars.

DONOTCONFIRMEXIT

This preference is used to control whether Open Plan displays a confirmation message each time you quit the application.

  • 0 = Display a confirmation message when you quit the application.
  • 1 = Do not prompt you for confirmation.

You can also set this preference using the Do not ask again option on a dialog box.

GENERATENEWGUIDSWHENRESTORING

This preference indicates whether Open Plan generates new GUID (unique keys) when restoring records from a backup.

  • 0 = Do not generate a new GUID.
  • 1 = Generate a new GUID when restoring records from a backup file.

HistogramArrayLimit

This preference defines the maximum number of array elements in the histogram. Each array element represents a time unit as defined by the date scale of the view.

You can enter a value from 1000 through 100000. The default value is 15000.

If the value you entered surpasses the maximum value, Open Plan prompts you to select less granular time buckets (for example, a week instead of a day) when defining the histogram date scale.

LAST_IPMR2_GROUPOPTIONS_SET

Normally, this preference is maintained by the user interface. It stores the name of the last group options set that was used for an IPMDAR export.

LOGPROCESSOPTIONSINBATCHMODE

This preference controls the logging of options used for processes (for example, Time Analysis) to the batch file when running a batch process.

  • 0 = Do not log options used for processes when running the batch process.
  • 1 = Log options used for processes to the batch log file when running the batch process.

RISKPERCENTILEARRAYSIZE

This preference is set in conjunction with the RISKPERCENTILES preference. It specifies the number of percentile "buckets" or the size of the array used to store percentile values for key activities during risk analysis.

The default value is 20.

RISKPERCENTILES

This preference is used to specify the percentile values for the array defined by RISKPERCENTILEARRAYSIZE. The number of array elements specified in RISKPERCENTILEARRAYSIZE should be 1 less than the number of numbers specified in RISKPERCENTILES. Each number should be separated with a space. The numbers are used by the risk analysis process.

The first value of the array must be 0. The values of the array must be cumulative. The last value of the array must be 100.

The default values (21 numbers from 0 through 100, incremented by 5 each time) for the array are:

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

ROUNDMETHOD

This preference enables you to choose the rounding method used in risk analysis.

  • 0 = no rounding
  • 1 = method 1
  • 2 = method 2
  • 3 = method 3

The default setting is 3.

SAVE_PLACEMENTS_WITH_VIEW

This preference controls how Open Plan saves placement with regard to view preferences.

  • 0 = Do not save placements at the same time as view preferences.
  • 1 = Save placements at the same time as view preferences

ShowSQLLog

This option enables you to view the SQL Log in the Open Plan Log Viewer.

The log is created when you start your Open Plan session and is automatically updated whenever the database is accessed.

  • 0 = The log is not displayed in the Open Plan Log Viewer. This is the default setting.
  • 1 = The log is displayed in the Open Plan Log Viewer on the SQL Log tab.

If you wish to view the SQL Log outside the context of Open Plan, you can use any text editor (such as Windows Notepad) to open the sql.log file located in the \\User directory of your Open Plan installation.

SuppressCombineVerticals

When performing automatic placements, Open Plan combines vertical relationship lines when showing relationships using the Routed line style as in the following example:

suppressverticalno.gif

The SuppressCombineVerticals option instructs Open Plan to display each relationship line separately:

suppressverticalyes.gif
  • 0 = Open Plan combines vertical relationship lines.
  • 1 = Open Plan suppresses the combining of vertical relationship lines.

SUPPRESSSTRAIGHTENLINES

This preference instructs Open Plan to display each straighten relationship line separately.

  • 0 = Open Plan combines straighten relationship lines.
  • 1 = Open Plan suppresses the combining of straighten relationship lines.

USELOCALFILEFORBACKUP

This option enables you to enable or disable the use of a local folder in creating or restoring a backup file.

  • 0 = Open Plan creates a backup file in the original location that you have specified and reads the backup file directly from the original location when restoring. This is the default value.

  • 1 = Open Plan takes the following action:

    • For backup, if Open Plan determines that the original target folder is on a network drive, it creates the backup file first on your local drive. Then it copies the backup file to the target location, replacing the existing backup file (if applicable) with the newly created file.
    • For restore, if Open Plan determines that the original folder containing the backup is on a network drive, it copies the file from the network drive and saves it into a temporary folder on your local drive where it reads that file.

USEPROCESSTHREAD

Normally, when you run a process in Open Plan (for example, time analysis or resource scheduling), a separate thread spins off to perform the process while the main Open Plan thread handles the user interface.

In some cases, you run into problems with the separate thread technique. This preference provides a way for you to use a single thread, which often enables a process to complete in situations where they are experiencing problems.

  • 0 = Open Plan separates threads.
  • 1 = Open Plan uses a single thread.

System Preferences

_DUMPCALLSTACK

In certain situations (for example, a transaction count error occurs), Open Plan can dump a call stack to the system log, which might help Deltek Development discover the source of an issue.

Normally, you would not set this variable without additional instructions from Deltek Support Services. To view a call stack meaningfully, you would need to be furnished with a set of Program Database (PDB) files that do not ship with the product.

  • 0 = Open Plan does not dump a call stack to the system log,
  • 1 = Open Plan dumps a call stack to the system log,

_MaxDBDriverIdleMinutesBeforeAutoReset

This preference enables you to specify the number of idle minutes allowed before Open Plan automatically resets the data source connection.

The allowable range for this value is from 10 to 480 minutes, with a default setting of 55 minutes.

  • If _MaxDBDriverIdleMinutesBeforeAutoReset is set within the supported range (for example, 10), the opwin.log file will display the following message when a long running process like an import completes: "Re-initializing data source connection as the connection has been idle for X minutes or longer."
  • If _MaxDBDriverIdleMinutesBeforeAutoReset is set to a value outside the supported range (for example, 6), the opwin.log file will display the following message: "The value supplied for the preference "_MaxDBDriverIdleMinutesBeforeAutoReset" (X) should be in the range (10 - 480). Will use the default (55 minutes) instead".

_LOGSQLRESULTCOUNT

This preference enables you to create a separate COUNT query prior to a regular data query.

If the number of records differs, the difference is logged for further analysis.

The two queries may legitimately return a different number of records, particularly in a shared-mode environment because the queries are not issued simultaneously.

For the most part, however, the COUNT and regular queries will normally return either the same number of records or the difference will be relatively minor.

  • 0= Turn off logging.
  • 1 = Call a COUNT query for ACTIVITY result sets.
  • 2 = Call a COUNT query for ALL result sets.

_SUPPRESSINTERNALMESSAGES

This option enables you to control the display of internal messages that alert users of certain issues.

By default, if a database error occurs, a message box displays on your machine alerting you to the error.

  • 0 = Open Plan displays all internal messages.
  • 1 = Open Plan suppresses internal messages.
  • 2 = Open Plan suppresses debug messages (for example, record count discrepancy).
  • 3 = Open Plan suppresses database error messages.

To disable this functionality, set the value to 1. The default setting is 2.

Currently, Open Plan supports reporting of errors only where unique constraint violations occur. It displays such errors, however, only when users are doing an explicit save or a save is triggered in Shared mode.

AllowEditPPC

Use this option to specify when you can edit Physical % Complete.

  • 0 = The ability to edit PPC directly depends on the EVT setting. See Rules For EVT and Activity Physical % Complete.
  • 1 = You can edit PPC anytime except when EVT is set to steps, in which case PPC is read-only and is automatically calculated by multiplying the weight % of each step by the PPC set for each step.

MATCH_P6_LABOR_HOURS

This option enables you to use the resource assignment level as hours regardless of Open Plan’s default duration unit when importing/exporting data to/from Primavera P6.

There are two settings:

  • 0 = Open Plan adjusts the P6 resource labor hours to reflect its default duration unit.

  • 1 (or not defined) = Open Plan uses P6 resource labor hours as Total Hours.

    Importing a P6 schedule with labor resources enables the Open Plan schedule to use the same resource units assigned to its activities.

This setting affects the planned and remaining units for import as well as the remaining and actual units for export. When you import/export resources, a message displays in the log indicating whether Open Plan is matching P6 labor hours. The message, however, slightly varies for import and export.

Note: Because Open Plan still interprets resource units internally in terms of the default duration unit, resource costs, as observed in the Activity Progress dialog box, may not match costs in P6 unless the OP default duration unit is in hours (when MATCH_P6_LABOR_HOURS = 1).

The default setting is 0.

USEUNIQUEWPCOSTDATAPROCESS

With this option, you can enable or disable concatenation of Control Account key fields and the Work Package ID when creating an Integrated Program Management Data and Analysis Report (IPMDAR) file during the Schedule Data Export process.

  • 0 (or the option is not present) = Open Plan performs concatenation of CA ID and the WP ID when exporting to IPMDAR format.
  • 1 = Open Plan does not perform concatenation of CA ID and the WP ID when exporting to IPMDAR format.

Defaults

Click the Defaults button to display the System Preferences Defaults dialog box that your system administrator can use to define system-wide preferences from which a user can select.